Looking for advice on a wireless way to listen to music, chat, etc from my PC

I have a fairly regular Win11 PC (full specs here, but I don't think they are relevant to the question), and like many software devs I listen to music while I work.

I've just moved into a bigger office, which I'm sharing with another dev who also listens to music. As we have very different tastes, we have agreed to get head/ear phones so we don't disturb each other. I want to get ones that I can also use for meetings (Skype, Teams, Slack, etc).

Basic requirements:

1. Needs to have a microphone as well as speakers.
2. Given that I'll be wearing these for a large part of the day, I would prefer something very lightweight, such as ear buds rather than headphones.
3. I would also like wireless, so I am not restricted to sitting at my PC when chatting.
4. I would prefer something with loops that go behind my ears to hold the buds in place, as I find that regular ear buds/phones tend to fall out.

My PC doesn't have Bluetooth, so it looks like I would need a Bluetooth adapter, and a pair of Bluetooth-enabled buds.

I did some searching, and came up with the following, but would appreciate some advice from the experts, as the amount of items out there is somewhat overwhelming! Worth noting that while I don't mind spending a little extra on the buds to get better sound quality, I can't afford some of the expensive ones out there.

TP-Link Bluetooth adapter
Wireless earbuds

Thanks for any advice you can give.

Should work just fine! I don't see why it wouldn't.

@NavyLCDR Thanks, just wanted some reassurance!

The only suggestion I have it to place the BT dongle on the front of the PC so as not to block/hinder the receiver.

Anyway, I figured all new motherboards came with BT built-in (my last 4 Gigabyte's did), but I see that isn't always the case.

Good luck.

Dru2 said:

The only suggestion I have it to place the BT dongle on the front of the PC so as not to block/hinder the receiver.

Anyway, I figured all new motherboards came with BT built-in (my last 4 Gigabyte's did), but I see that isn't always the case.

Good luck.

Click to expand...

Good suggestion, except that I'm actually nearer the back of the PC!

Was your comment about built-in BT based on my specific mobo, or a general comment? As far as I know it doesn't have BT, but if it does, it would make life a bit easier. I don't see any mention of it on the specs, but Google's snippets (few lines extracted from each result) shows a few mentions.

Any idea how I confirm this before I buy an adaptor?

Thanks

MrYossu said:

Was your comment about built-in BT based on my specific mobo, or a general comment? As far as I know it doesn't have BT, but if it does, it would make life a bit easier.

Click to expand...

Generally, but the boards I use are mostly mid to high end so that may be the reason why.

My last four Gigabyte boards - G1 Sniper 5 (Z87), GA-Z170X Gaming GT, GA-Z270X Gaming 8, and my Z390 Aorus Xtreme all came with BT included to also include the antennas. Anyway, all those fall between $220 to $520.

MrYossu said:

Any idea how I confirm this before I buy an adaptor?

Click to expand...

I just looked at your board and didn't see BT capabilities, so yeah, it looks like you need the BT dongle.

@Dru2 Thanks for the confirmation

MrYossu said:

@Dru2 Thanks for the confirmation

Click to expand...

No problem.

And that TP does say it supports Windows 11, so you should be good.

Good luck.

According to reviews those earbuds are comfortable and work good but sound quality isn't great for music as there is no bass. It seems they are designed for voice over music. But probably any earbuds with high sound quality will cost more.

glasskuter said:

According to reviews those earbuds are comfortable and work good but sound quality isn't great for music as there is no bass. It seems they are designed for voice over music. But probably any earbuds with high sound quality will cost more.

Click to expand...

Yeah, that was a major time suck when researching. There are sooo many earbuds out there, each with sooo many reviews, many of which struck me as being fake, it was really hard to know what to choose.

I was hoping I might get the voice of experience here. I'd love some really good ones, but can't afford it!

Thanks

Whether it means anything or not, I ran that url through Fakespot which rated the legitimacy of the reviews as a D.

MrYossu said:

Yeah, that was a major time suck when researching. There are sooo many earbuds out there, each with sooo many reviews, many of which struck me as being fake, it was really hard to know what to choose.

I was hoping I might get the voice of experience here. I'd love some really good ones, but can't afford it!

Thanks

Click to expand...

In addition to listening to "user" reviews, you might also read some professional reviews. I never rely on user or professional reviews alone. I go with professional, then see what actual users are saying, and go from there. Also noting what's important to "me". If reviewer complains they don't pump a lot of bass, and I only listen jazz, well the bass thing may not be an issue to me.

What is it that's important to "you" and go from there. Anyway, I don't do earbud, so I've no suggestion there, but I do use BT phones as in my Bose NC (Noise Cancelling) headphones and they sound great to me. But I also understand the signal is BT, not wired analogue. For that, I also have a good pair of "wired" Sennheiser headphones.


With that, I believe @Edwin may be able to suggest a good pair of earbuds or IEMs (In Ear Monitors)

Dru2 said:

@Edwin may be able to suggest a good pair of earbuds

Click to expand...

MrYossu said:

I'd love some really good ones, but can't afford it!

Click to expand...

Often, you can find Jabra Elite 3's for as low as 69.99

I have purchased a total of 9 Jabra products over the past few years..., I can confirm that they are all superior products, in their respective price ranges, and all, still going strong!

The Sony's are very good as well but, a bit more pricey!

Edwin said:

Often, you can find Jabra Elite 3's for as low as 69.99

I have purchased a total of 9 Jabra products over the past few years..., I can confirm that they are all superior products, in their respective price ranges, and all, still going strong!

The Sony's are very good as well but, a bit more pricey!

Click to expand...

I agree about Jabra, but the OP was looking for over-ear buds.

​

trevo said:

I agree about Jabra, but the OP was looking for over-ear buds.

Click to expand...

That doesn't mean they aren't interested in anything else; and they did say....

MrYossu said:

There are sooo many earbuds out there, each with sooo many reviews, many of which struck me as being fake, it was really hard to know what to choose.

I was hoping I might get the voice of experience here. I'd love some really good ones, but can't afford it!

Click to expand...

I think the OP will decide what works best for them.

trevo said:

I agree about Jabra, but the OP was looking for over-ear buds.

Click to expand...

Ah! Missed that, sorry..., however...
the grey Elite 3's, I use for work and they take a beating! They last all day and are comfortable too!
I've shook my head to the point of giving myself a concussion and they don't budge!
They are fully functional and sound terrific! I paid 69.99 CAD for them.

Dru2 said:

That doesn't mean they aren't interested in anything else; and they did say....

I think the OP will decide what works best for them.

Click to expand...

Very helpful.

Edwin said:

Ah! Missed that, sorry..., however...
the grey Elite 3's, I use for work and they take a beating! They last all day and are comfortable too!
I've shook my head to the point of giving myself a concussion and they don't budge!
They are fully functional and sound terrific! I paid 69.99 CAD for them.

View attachment 59621

Click to expand...

I used to use those, excellent...I lost one and had to replace; went with Beats Powerbeat Pro, which are over-ear, but maybe a bit expensive based on Op's stated requirements.

Thanks to all of you for your suggestions.

Sadly, but the Jabra and Beats look out of my price range, so I guess I'll have to have a try with something more modestly priced and see how I get on.

Thanks again.